It wasn't the prettiest night of women's basketball at Christenberry Fieldhouse. Augusta State played host to USC Aiken, and the Peach Belt Conference matchup didn't showcase much offense from either team.

Augusta State coach Greg Wilson didn't hesitate to call it like he saw it.

"That's one of the ugliest games in the last five or six years," he said.

But it was Wilson's squad who survived the sloppiness and escaped with a 48-37 victory. In front of the largest crowd of the season, Augusta State did enough things better than USC Aiken, and that was enough.

"I told my assistant coaches before the game, I've never seen our team this pumped up before a game," Wilson said. "Sometimes when you're too pumped up you throw the ball over the backboard, and that was the problem."

Augusta State (10-4, 4-3 Peach Belt Conference) hit only 18 of 50 shots from the field, going 1-for-12 on 3-point attempts. The lack of offense showed early in a game that saw USC Aiken (10-4, 4-4) take a 5-0 lead after two minutes.

"We had to let those missed shots go," Augusta State guard Deo Ngulela said. "You can't think about it. You just have to move on to the next one."

The Lady Jaguars responded with a 9-0 run that drained more than eight minutes of the clock. Augusta State walked into the locker room at halftime with only 23 points but still enough for a five-point lead.

"I thought the effort was there," USC Aiken coach Mike Brandt said. "(But) we didn't shoot the ball well. We weren't patient like we were at Columbus State."

That Columbus State game Saturday saw the Lady Pacers score 75 points on Meredith Legg's 28-point performance. Two days later, USC Aiken shot only 20.7 percent (12-for-58) from the field, and Legg, plagued by foul trouble, scored only eight.

USC Aiken climbed to within two points with four minutes left, but Ngulela's steal and basket helped Augusta State pull away.

Reach Billy Byler at (706) 823-3216 or billy.byler@augustachronicle.com.

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